Straight Flush
by NellieRai
Summary: Cub'verse. Mother's Day gift. "Some days I think I'm completely failing as a mother. When the twins take turns with tantrums and Wes gets in a bad mood, when we're racing around late because one single item is missing and one of them will have a meltdown if we leave without it…but they're good kids."
**Disclaimer: Not mine...or Stana and Tamala would still be employed.**

 **A/N: Okay so here's the thing:**

 **Please don't review about potential next seasons or being angry. Please. Just enjoy the story as a Mother's Day gift. If you want to leave a review about the story then please do. If you want to rant about everything else...PM me.**

 **In other news, here's a Cub'verse tie in. I really do hope you like it and if not...well that's okay too.**

* * *

Beckett has been awake for almost an hour but she hasn't moved from the warmth of the bed. She can't even be upset her sleep has been interrupted or that it's only six in the morning. Barely five when the noise woke her. Everything is still coated in the dark gray of early dawn, slowly getting lighter, she's been watching the process and listening to the clang of pots and pans. There's a party in her kitchen and she's not invited.

There's coffee out there and that thought alone almost propels her out of the bed but Boomer snuggles closer, whining when there's another slam of a cabinet.

"S'okay, Booms." She scratches his ears, soothes her fingers over his fur until he calms. "I know they're loud sometimes - a lot of the time - but we love them."

It's been an hour of hushed whispers and giggles amongst various clanging. The bump of bowls, the whir of a mixer, the scrape of utensils…it's become an orchestra of sounds and she's too invested in listening to roll over and fall back asleep. She's too invested in playing the part to get up and join them.

She knows all too well what's going on in the kitchen and usually it ends with little bodies dog piling on top of her until she joins them for a breakfast made by tiny hands and big hearts. Supervised by one very affectionate giant kid, her husband.

This morning is a bit different than years in the past. This morning has her clamping her eyes shut when the shuffle of feet gets close. It isn't the usual "wake-up" call. No loud exclamations of what day it happens to be. Just soft shuffling until she can feel someone watching her, someone who pauses a moment before climbing up on the bed.

Beckett knows exactly who is joining her by the soft press of hands and knees. Cautiousness that two of her children lack but a third has spades of. She feigns sleep until a little face snuggles into her and soft words burrow just as warmly in her heart.

"Happy Day of Momma." Pretending to sleep ends with those whispered words. Each letter enunciated as if she practiced to get it right.

"Thank you, Charlie." Opening her eyes, Kate snuggles her youngest daughter and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "You're dressed? Is this a formal event? I'm severely underdressed if it is."

The purple dress is a favorite of Charlie's and completely offsets the wild locks framing her cheeks. A giggle and a shake of a head are the only answers but those blue eyes are full of light and love.

"I don't think I have any pretty purple dresses for the special occasion. Our hair matches though."

"B'waid?"

"Braid it is, once we get up." It takes Beckett more than a minute to decide if she wants to leave the bed and braid her daughter's hair or stay snuggled together just a bit longer.

When Charlie whispers about the noise happening in the kitchen and her daddy being silly, it's decided the early morning cuddles are more important than taming wild manes. Boomer noses his way in on the action, nudging Charlie's cheek until she laughs and wraps her arms around his neck.

The cat comes next. Purring and walking up the length of Boomer's back to join in on the fun, Elephant the ever-curious kitten is never far behind his little owner. The strongest child/cat bond Beckett has ever witnessed…not that she's seen many in her lifetime but she's pretty sure in her assessment. She's content to stay like this.

Quiet moments are rare in a household of three small kids…and Castle. That's why she relishes in them, squeezing her daughter and peppering kisses to her cheek. The cat tries to join the affection, licking the side of Charlie's face until she's reaching to grab his wrinkly little body and peel him back.

"Did you get tired of cooking?" Beckett asks, smoothing down a particularly crazy section of Charlie's hair. She tries to get her talking, keep her talking but a loud crash, a shattering of glass, and some very terrified crying interrupt any response.

She doesn't waste any time before she's pushing pets aside and grabbing Charlie up without a second thought. She half jogs into the kitchen, following the crippling sound of her child crying and barely being able to hear Castle's soothing tone over it.

Glass is all over the floor, a goo of what she assumes is batter of some kind is clumped and splattered everywhere. Her heart eases back into her chest when she sees Wes and Ella safe and sitting atop the counter. However, Ella is red faced and bawling and Beckett quickly sits Charlie next to Wes to join Castle in calming her down.

"Els, it's okay, we can just clean it up." She shakes her head and buries her face in Castle's chest, mumbling into him. Kate can't make out all of the words but she hears a few. _Ruined. Woke Momma. Messed up._

"She hurt?"

"Not physically. It startled her." He's rubbing their daughter's back, telling her nothing is ruined and everything is going to be fine. All things that just make her cry a little harder. "Ella, no one is upset but you. Nobody is mad."

"Hey, I was already awake. You didn't mess anything up." She wants to ask why her daughter was near glass in the first place but a look at the floor tells her the mixing bowl was plastic. It's in the middle of the mess. "I'm right here and everything is still perfect."

Ella flings herself out of her father's hold and into her mother's arms, clinging. Her little heart broken and while soothing her, Beckett takes a moment to look at the counter tops.

The amount of food and fruit stacked up and spread out has her smiling. There are eggs next to a plate stacked with bacon. Wes swipes a piece and splits it to share with Charlie. A bowl to the left of them is filled with strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi.

Waffles.

Muffins.

Cookies.

Apparently this year they had decided to prepare an entire feast. And one little mishap left Ella in tears and thinking everything is destroyed. Castle cleans as she tries her best to calm.

"Ella, look at all of this food! Did you make it?"

"Daddy did." She sniffles and rubs her face against Beckett's shoulder.

"Nonsense. I just manned the stove and the oven."

"Ella mixed everything and I found ingred'ents! Right, Daddy?" Wes asks, sharing another piece of bacon with Charlie, using the question to sneak Boomer a piece. Beckett pretends she doesn't see it.

"Ingredients and yes, that's right. Charlotte was my kitchen supervisor but disappeared on us." He steps carefully around the pieces of glass, picking up the large ones.

"Castle, you'll cut yourself, just use the dustpan." She hears him inhale sharply and knows she warned too little too late.

A crying girl in her arms, a boy sneaking a dog bacon, a cat eying the food, another little girl reaching for the fruit bowl and now she has a husband bleeding over an already messy floor. Yeah…this is her life. This is her Mother's Day and it's perfect.

"Ella, you can help me get everyone a plate and we'll all eat our breakfast." Beckett treads carefully, realizing a plate is exactly what caused the upset. There's a stack on the counter, three plastics and one glass. She shoots Castle a look and nods to the table. "Get the glass up and the mess can wait."

She carries each kid to the table, too worried over putting them down. The food comes next, Castle pitching in once the glass has been taken care of to shorten the amount of trips. The smiles slowly come back. Wes offers support by patting Ella's back and telling her she did a great job on the food. Charlie nods her agreement and just like that, it's as if everything is fine.

It's silently agreed upon to let Ella fix everyone a plate which ends with a lot of cookies and very little anything of nutritional value. But it's a special day and Beckett doesn't say a word about it.

The chatter at the table is one of her favorite parts of being a mother. She's never disappointed in the stories, the "facts" that kids think up. Today proves to be no different when Wes gets a pensive look on his face.

"What is Mother's Day? We make stuff like the card I made you but what is it?"

"Does the Easter Bunny come?" Ella asks and both Beckett and Castle share a look, trying to hide their amusement. "I like him."

It takes everything she has to answer seriously.

"No, I'm sorry I'm not as cool as the Easter Bunny but Mother's Day is just about telling your mom or step-mom or anyone who takes care of you that you love them." It's the simplified version but it's the one she knows they'll understand. Breakfast for the Castles is anything but boring.

The rest of the morning passes without incident, most of the time is spent with handmade cards filled with glitter, stickers, and a lot of vibrant colors. She ends up with five. Three are from her kids and two are from Castle. One made with all the same supplies their children used and then a fancy print card with handwritten words inside that make her melt into a puddle.

* * *

She takes a moment to herself after a round of hide and seek. A small moment to think about her own mother as Castle calls his to invite her to dinner. Sometimes it still burns in her chest like a fresh wound. It doesn't matter how old she gets or how long it's been.

Days like this one make her remember how it felt to be nineteen and lose her mother, how it felt to fall in love and have no one to talk to. She remembers being pregnant the first time and wanting to share it…getting married…

A lot of memories would be so different. She feels the lump in her throat tighten, swipes at her cheek when she sees her son standing in the doorway.

"Hey, little Cub."

"Are you okay?" The concern in his little voice is almost too much. She pats the spot next to her and he sprints over.

"M'fine. I was just thinking about my mom." It's something she's never really mentioned before, something the kids haven't learned to question just yet. "I think about her on Mother's Day."

"How come we never see her?"

"She's…gone."

"Like when Daddy goes away for his books?"

"No, baby, she can't come back. She died before you were ever born." Way before but she doesn't tell him that. He frowns, a spitting image of his father in every way except the eyes. Death has been explained before but she's not sure any of her kids fully understand until Wes wraps his arms around her waist and squeezes tight.

"Were you little like Simba?"

"N-no." She barely holds it together, barely gets control of the tears wanting to spill out. He understands more than she thought but still not quite enough. "But I always thought she'd be here and she isn't. I wish she could meet you."

"I love you."

"I love you more, Wes." She expects that to be the end of it but he pulls back and pouts.

"But I love you more than dinosaurs."

"Oh…you win." He doesn't but she'll let him believe just to see the smile on his face. Crooked and proud. She lives for the little moments like this one, the times her kids make her feel better just by being themselves and showing the caring souls they're growing up to be.

* * *

Her husband catches her the next time she spaces out. When she's staring out the window and thinking of her conversation with their son, Castle steps up behind her, brushing his fingers over her hip.

"You okay?" This is definitely where their little boy learned to be so considerate and concerned. Right here in this loft, with his parents paving the way.

"Some days I think I'm completely failing as a mother. When the twins take turns with tantrums and Wes gets in a bad mood, when we're racing around late because one single item is missing and one of them will have a meltdown if we leave without it…but they're good kids."

"They're human. We are too, I have those same thoughts but then I see them care for each other or build a human pyramid so Ella can reach the cookies and let me tell you, these kids are brilliant." He dusts a kiss to her ear and she knows he's right. She's walked in on one of their human pyramids. They're kids.

Wild. Loud. Perfect and caring.

"Just want to be half the mom my mother was."

"Kate," he murmurs against her neck, lips warm and soothing. "You already are. And then some."

She smiles then, turning to kiss him and stroking her fingers down his cheek. Believing the words, pressing a thank you against his mouth, she nips his bottom lip.

"Mm. Not now, little eyes."

"Later." She promises with another kiss, softer this time, a gentle press that has them both pulling back with a smile.

"Happy Mother's Day, Kate."


End file.
